Friends
by tcat75
Summary: Percy decides that his friends are the only reason that he keeps hope to destroy Kronos at times. Oneshot. Some Percabeth. Not dark or depressing, although the summary kinda hints at it.


**A/N: Alright, first fanfic. I'm not going to give my autobiography, but I've been around writing and fanfiction, and this isn't the first fanfic I've started. Its just the first one I've posted.**

**Anyway, have at it. Its a oneshot based after the events of The Battle of the Labyrinth (although before the last chapter, while Percy is still at camp). Some Percabeth. There's a little humor in it, but its not a "funny" fanfic. Its pretty serious in nature. Rated K+ for some non-dangerous violence (you'll see).**

**Stick with me, at first I do some backtracking and explain the story. Don't worry, it all flows in the end.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson. I don't own the Olympians. And I certainly don't earn Percy Jackson and the Olympians.  
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Hi! I'm Percy Jackson, and, believe or not, I'm a son of the Greek god. Yeah. You know, Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, and all those guys? I know, I know. I had trouble believing it at first too. But anyway, as I was saying, I'm the son of a Greek god. Poseidon, in fact. I'm not a god, though…my mom is a human. Just a half-blood. Well, that's what they call me, anyway. Us, I should say. 'Us' would be a much more appropriate term, seeing how I _know _probably a hundred half bloods. There's probably a lot more than that. How do I know a hundred half-bloods? Well, you see, I go to this camp called Camp Half-Blood…yes, I know. Very original. It's where half-bloods come and train and learn to fight.

Which is why those three very scary looking robots are running at me with swords.

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I parried the first blow away, staying in a defensive stance. An aggressive strike would likely leave me wide open.

It'd hurt a little, but I wouldn't die if I did get hit. You see, I'm fighting automatons. When Daedalus decided to go to Hades, he left Annabeth Chase with his laptop full of all his ideas. He also left the camp a couple hundred automatons. The camp reprogrammed them for training purposes and stuck them here in the "gym". They used blunt swords, only enough to leave a bruise.

I wasn't planning on them leaving a bruise, though. I kept searching for a moment of opportunity while I blocked the swings of the swords. Finally, it came. One of the automatons came a little too close, and without interrupting my defensive moves, I swung my leg and swept the automaton off its feet.

That took the other two by surprise. They faltered for a second as their brains tried to comprehend what happened. It was only for a split second, but it was enough time for me to jam Riptide into one of the automatons chests. Riptide is my sword…well, it's actually a pen, but when you take the cap off, it becomes a sword. Don't ask me how it does it. All I know is that it's magical. This would explain why it always reappears in my pocket when I lose it.

Anyway, I jammed Riptide into one of the automatons. It crumpled to the ground, but it'd fix itself eventually. After all, these automatons wouldn't be very useful if they got destroyed every time we half-bloods used them. The second automaton took slightly longer. I went with a couple quick, fast blows, driving it back, and then faked a swing to the left. It took the fake, and I sheared off its head with swing to the right.

The third one, the one I had knocked to the ground, had been running up to try to surprise me. I turned, caught its blade and twisted mine. The move knocked the sword out of its hand. I stabbed it through the chest.

_Too easy, _I thought.

Anyway. Where was I? Oh, yeah. Me. Percy Jackson. Son of Poseidon. And why should that mean anything to you? Well, the fact that there's a prophesy that says that I will either destroy Kronos…or bring him back to power. Kronos, the head Titan and the god's archrival, is a very bad person. Trust me. He already tried to kill me twice.

The prophesy doesn't say specifically me. It says the first half-blood of Poseidon, Zeus, or Hades – the big three they call them – to turn 16. Right now, I'm 14, but my birthday is at the end of the summer. And I'm the only half-blood from the big three, since they decided not to have kids when the prophesy first came around (until obviously, Poseidon fell in love with my mom and just couldn't stop himself).

So that leaves the fate of the entire Greek god world in my hands. Which kinda freaks me out, to be honest.

I start up another automaton, toying with it. When I first came here to Camp Half-blood, people told me I was a natural born swordsman. Since then, I'd become pretty good. Daedalus/Quintus said that I was one of the best he'd ever seen. And since he'd been around for about 2,000 years or something, that really means something.

I used a couple quick slashes at the face of the automaton so I could distract it and then gave it a football hit with my shoulder. My idea. I knocked it down, but my shoulder immediately protested in pain. _Why do automatons have to be made out of metal_, I wondered. But I put the pain aside so I could finish off the downed automaton.

Sometimes I wonder about what's going to happen to me. I mean, the gods had trouble taking Kronos down. There are times where I feel as if I just should give up. Thalia escaped the prophesy by joining Artemis and staying forever young. Why can't I find a way to escape the prophesy?

But I know I can't. And when I come to realize that, sometimes I just want to quit and give up. Go home to my mom and eat blue muffins (it's a thing we do) and drink blue diet Pepsi (yes, we're a kinda odd family). Go away from stupid Camp Half-blood.

About the only thing that keeps me going when I'm like this is my friends, at times.

I mean, Thalia. I'll be honest, I feel jealous of her. To escape the prophesy by joining something she wants. But regardless, I consider Thalia a friend. I'm not going to give the lame "she's always been there for me", because I didn't even know her until two years ago, but she understands. More than anyone else can, because she was in this exact spot last year. She was the one about to fulfill the prophesy. She was the one who could bring Kronos back in power. Thalia knows how I'm feeling. It really means something to me to have one person know what I'm feeling like.

I walked over to the automatons. Most half-bloods used either one or two automatons at a time. Some of the more experienced campers, such as me, used up to three. But more than that? Daedalus/Quintus once battled four to demonstrate how to defend against multiple enemies, but he didn't even defeat them. Just showed us the fighting style and then turned them off.

I activated five automatons. One of them reminded me of Tyson, as its eye was missing: presumably gorged out by a camper's sword.

Ah, yes, Tyson. He's a Cyclops, and my half-brother. Not on my mom's side, because that would be a little creepy. No, Tyson is a son of Poseidon, and I do feel a special connection to him. Not like Thalia, though. While Thalia understood me because of her experiences, Tyson understood me just because he was…Tyson. Being the son of Poseidon, being a brother I never knew I had, he was always there for me. Even being a Cyclops, Tyson is the brother I never had until I met him. I honestly couldn't imagine him any different, and that's a good thing.

Five automatons was a lot, I knew. I couldn't take them all at one time, so I turned a sprinted away, towards the pile of wooden boxes left over from the automatons. They gave chase, but I'm a track star at school, you know.

Not. I was just barely fast enough to reach the pile of boxes before the automatons caught up. I leapt on top of the first box, and being wood, it creaked but supported me. I turned to engage the first one who was flying at me.

I kicked it back so I could have a quick look at my surroundings. The boxes where haphazardly thrown in a pile, looking a little like a small hill. Most were diagonal, not fully resting on the ground or another box, so they could slip off if something heavy enough dislodged them.

My skinny 14 year old body probably wasn't heavy enough, but I bet you can figure out what is. Especially since there are five of them.

It was a reckless strategy, but that's kinda how we here at Camp Half-blood learned to do things. Clarisse, my used-to-be-rival-now-kinda-friend. Chris Rodriguez, Clarisse's girlfriend and a pretty cool guy, which I just learned this summer because he had been in a coma since last year. The Stroll brothers, who I don't know really well, but who are always fun when I'm around them. All of us are in constant danger from monsters anyway, so we accept the risk that come with risky strategies (and if you didn't know risk came with risky strategies, then ancient Greek might be a better language for you that English).

I quickly climbed to the top of the "hill" as the automatons came plowing up the box hill, and just like that, the entire thing dislodged. One box slipped, which caused four other boxes to slip, until the entire thin was collapsing outwards. I jumped off the top, which was quickly collapsing as well, slashing and removing heads from two of the automatons on the way down.

That leaves three automatons, for those reaching for your calculators at home.

I took a moment to catch my breath. The other automatons were on the other side of the boxes, or buried underneath. I'd find out soon enough, but I had this moment just to wait.

I've told you about Thalia and Tyson. I told you about my fellow campers here. But really, no offense to Tyson, he's not my favorite non-human. I'd go with Grover on that one. I still love Tyson, and he is my favorite brother (shocker, I know), but Grover was the one who first helped me understand the Greek world. He found me at my school, befriended me, and ever since I came to the realization of what I really was, has always been here for me.

As a matter of fact, I can only think of three things that have ever come before me in Grover's life. One would be food, of course. Cans, miscellaneous plastic ware, you name it. Second, his girlfriend Juniper. That's a good thing, just so you know. Third, Grover's…

The trio of automatons rounded appeared from behind the boxes. And charged me.

I backed up, away from the boxes. That had been a successful strategy, but it wasn't something I could use again. This time, I backed into the center of the arena. I held my sword ready as they narrowed the gap rather quickly. When they were steps away I noticed some movement behind them. A fourth automaton joined them.

Argh! Apparently, I hadn't taken out one of the automaton I thought I had. _Too careless, _I thought, frowning.

I almost forgot about the three autos in front of me. I began defending myself just in time. I needed to try to take one out before the fourth automaton. Riptide flashed in blinding circles, blocking attack after attack, but no matter what I did, I couldn't find an opening.

And then the fourth one joined. And something weird happened. You know how in the movies and the books and everything, how the good guy has time slow down and he kinda zones out? Something like that kinda happened. Time didn't slow down…don't be ridiculous…but I started acting on pure instinct. It was like I wasn't even thinking. I remember, faintly, taking out the first one with a jab. The next thing I really remember is taking out the last one with a high low sweep that cut from shoulder to hip. Somewhere in the middle, I must have got the other two.

I crouched on the ground, panting from exhaustion. I had just beaten four automatons in single combat. I guess I was pretty good. Tapping the blade of Riptide with the pen cap, it reverted into the pen form.

Well, the last thing Grover puts ahead of our friendship would be his quest for Pan. Now that we found Pan, and he faded, Grover's goal is the proclamation of Pan's death. I don't blame him. Grover's dream in life was to find Pan, ever since he was a little Satyr. Now, Pan charged him with spreading the sad news, shortly before Pan faded.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain! Time for dinner!" called a voice. I turned and smiled when I heard the voice, and saw a girl with wavy blonde hair, gray eyes and an orange camp T-shirt grinning back at me. Oh, yeah, I suppose I haven't mentioned my best friend, Annabeth. Yes, she's a girl, but she can still be my best friend. You see, I was just telling you about what Grover would put above me.

That the difference right there. I'm not sure there's anything Annabeth puts before our friendship. I'm not saying she'll do anything for me, but when I really need her, she's always there. Earlier in the summer, during the quest, Grover had split up with us because he found a path to Pan. I don't hold any grudges or anything, because this is want Grover was born to do. But Annabeth would never do that. As a matter of fact, she was the one that stayed with me, while Tyson and Grover went off in pursuit of Pan.

Yes, she may think Luke is still able to be saved, while I think Kronos has completely taken over, but I had no question who she would pick when it came down between Luke and me. I know I may sound cocky saying that, but I know in my heart that Annabeth wouldn't…that she couldn't take Luke over me. I don't know how…I just do.

"Alright," I called back, "I was just catching my breath." I wiped the sweat off my face with a towel, and splashed some water on my face, instantly feeling better.

"Why? Those automatons wear poor ol' Seaweed Brain out?"

I ignored her banter as I walked towards her. Annabeth had always been supportive of me. To be honest, without Annabeth, I doubt we would have found Zeus's lightning bolt, or rescued Grover, or this summer, stopped Kronos's army from destroying Camp Halfblood. And I know what it would be without Annabeth. She was captured last summer, and we spent most of the summer trying to rescue her. Nothing seemed right.

I reached Annabeth, and impulsively, I gave her a hug. Not a big hug, just a "thank you for everything" hug.

"What was that for, Percy?" I knew she was flustered when she didn't use her favorite nickname, but actually used my real name. She was blushing, and I knew my cheeks were probably a little red.

"Just for being a friend," I said. And I meant it.

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**I can't say this is my usual writing style. I tried to base my writing like Rick Riordan's style, not around my own. Let me know if it seems like the books or not. I'm curious to see how well you guys think I did.**

**Trust me, as this is my first fanfic, I'd love reviews.**


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